


ARE YOU SERIOUSLY VLOGGING RIGHT NOW?

by WhenYouRunOutOfContentSoHaveToMakeSome



Category: Youtube RPF
Genre: RPF, YouTube
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 11:22:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17466635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhenYouRunOutOfContentSoHaveToMakeSome/pseuds/WhenYouRunOutOfContentSoHaveToMakeSome
Summary: Both boys got up and walked to the door, ready to take the familiar Uber drive back to Toms house. Usually they would watch cartoons or whatever Netflix series they were currently binge watching while drinking wine and eating dinner before heading of to bed, with Elliot in the guest room as normal. There was no reason to think that tonight would be any different; which is why the knock at the door was particularly surprising.--During Last Week Tom mentioned that there was no fan fiction about him. I decided to change that.





	1. Chapter 1

It's 8pm on a random, seemingly normal Monday. Tom is still blogging about something or other and Eddie had gone home at a normal hour, meaning that the only other person in the office with him is Elliot who has just finished exporting the latest instalment of Last Week.

 

"Alright that's that finally finished, time to go home."

 

Looking over at Tom, Elliot could see the smile he put on whenever a camera was about. It saddened Elliot to know that Toms enthusiasm wasn't completely true, but he knew that there wasn't much he could do to help. Anyway, Elliot has his own problems to worry about - surely, he's not able to help others when he can't even help himself, right? But Tom can help others, Toms always there to help him. Even if it is in a 'tough love' 'sarcastic' kind of way.

 

"Earth to Elliot, Earth to Elliot!" Laughed Tom.

 

"Huh what?" Asked Elliot, being rudely pulled from his thoughts.

 

"I said it's time to go home!" Tom repeated, angling the camera in a way that allowed Elliot to see his smile even though he was looking at the lens.

 

"Oh yeah," Elliot smiled yawning. For a second, he stopped to think about the word 'home'. It's an odd word. A word that, despite all we do to stop it, is forever changing in meaning. Everyone has a home but sometimes he felt that his home was less a home and more just a house. He decided he'd try and make a video about it at some point.

 

Both boys got up and walked to the door, ready to take the familiar Uber drive back to Toms house. Usually they would watch cartoons or whatever Netflix series they were currently binge watching while drinking wine and eating dinner before heading off to bed, with Elliot in the guest room as normal. There was no reason to think that tonight would be any different; which is why the knock at the door was particularly surprising.

 

"UGH ELLIOT GET THE DOOR PLEASE!"

 

Elliot huffed in annoyance as it became clear that he would have to be the one deal with whatever was happening. Glancing at the bedside clock he saw that it was almost midnight and began to wonder what someone was doing knocking so late. He didn't have long to ponder it though as the knocking became more and more insistent, to the point where it seemed as if whoever it was might break the door down before he could open it.

 

"ELLIOT GET THE DOOR!" Yelled Tom, unhappy at being interrupted half way through undressing.

 

"IM DOING IT!" Yelled back Elliot.

 

As he hurried down the stairs Elliot felt a wave of anxiety wash over him. What if the person at the door was angry? What if he didn't know them? What if there were lots of them? Had he done anything wrong? What would he be expected to say? All these thoughts rushed through his mind all before reaching the bottom of the stairs.

 

That's when Elliot realised it. The knocking had stopped. He hesitated, wondering why someone who previously had seemed so desperate to come in had given up so quickly.

 

"Who is it?" The question came from Tom who was lingering half-dressed at the top of the stairs.

 

"I don't know yet." Muttered Elliot as he walked towards the door. He tried to shake of the silly little fears he had but he couldn't seem to help but feel nervous. After all, who knocks at this time of night?

 

"WAIT! Wait, wait!"

 

Elliot jumped violently just before opening the door and turned to see Tom stood behind him with his camera, ready to vlog everything. Elliot rolled his eyes at his friends’ inability to stop thinking about YouTube and turned back to the door.

 

"Open it then. Let's see who's come knocking!"

 

Elliot didn't reply to Tom as he knew the comment was aimed at the camera more than him.

 

With a dramatic flourish Elliot pulled the door open. Both boys gasped in shock and stepped back - unsure of their next move. They turned to each other as if to check that they were both seeing the same thing then turned back to look at...

 

A small box sat on top of the door mat.


	2. Chapter 2

"Huh?" Murmured Tom. He stepped past Elliot to look down the street. There was no one on sight. No one to question about the mystery box that seemed to appear on his doorstep all by itself at midnight.

"Should we bring it in?" Asked Elliot. The confusion and slight worry he felt meant that his accent was stronger than usual.

Tom hesitated. Logically he knew that this box couldn't contain anything that bad but his confusion over the whole situation was causing him doubts. He knelt to have a closer look at the box and handed his camera to Elliot, "keep filming, this could be good."

The small box that sat on Toms door mat was completely black. Its lid looked like it was made of a soft velvet, but the rest looked like hard leather; it didn't look like the lid and the box matched at all, yet they fit surprisingly well. There were handles either side of the rectangular box, one of which had a cardboard label attached to it. 

"Well?" Asked Elliot, keen to figure out what was going on.  
  
"There's a label attached. Hold on, let me read it."

There was a tense pause as Tom began to read the label. Elliot stood nervously, concentrating on filming Tom as a distraction to the weird events.

Tom read aloud: "Dear Thomas and Elliot..."

"Thomas?" Laughed Elliot. Although he was laughing it was easy to hear his worry. "Who calls you Thomas other than business partners?"

"Well maybe if you shut up we could find out," came Toms quick reply. Elliot huffed. He was used to Toms mean comments and knew him well enough to not take it personally.

Tom ignored Elliot and began to read again: "Dear Thomas and Elliot, I have left this box to help explain things. I urgently need your help. Please, please open this box and take its contents seriously. I need you now, please."

There was a moments silence as both men took in the unsettling message.

Tom was the first to speak, answering Elliot's first question before he asked it, "it's not signed. There's nothing to indicate who it’s from."

There was another pause after that, with only their shaky breathing interrupting the tense silence, until a car sped past. At the same time both Elliot and Tom remembered that they were still in the doorway.

"Come on, let’s bring it inside, it's cold out here. We can open it in the kitchen," said Tom. He picked up the surprisingly heavy box and turned to face Elliot, who was still filming him. "I'm not sure if this should go into Last Week." He paused to look down at the box, "I wonder what's in here."

"Well maybe if you opened the box we could find out," replied Elliot.

After a moment Tom registered that Elliot was echoing him from earlier and stopped moving past him to glare at him. Tom stood and glared at Elliot and Elliot smirked back. This continued until both burst in to laughter, breaking the tense atmosphere and relaxing them both.

"C'mon, into the kitchen," chuckled Tom.

Tom walked into the kitchen and put the strange box down on the table. After one last look out into the night, Elliot shut the front door and followed Tom. He was ready to solve the mystery of the box on the doorstep with its odd note. Little did he know that they couldn't be further from solving this mystery. In fact, this odd box was just the tip of the iceberg.

"Pass me the camera."

Elliot stared at Tom. For a moment he had forgotten that he was even holding the camera at all.  
"What? I'm going to summarise what’s happened and then put it on the counter, so we can open the box without having to hold it." Tom held out his hand for his camera, taking a moment to notice Elliot's state.

Elliot had always been kind of quiet, in fact he had been almost mute when Tom first met him. Over the years Elliot had become more confident and a lot surer of himself when dealing with situations like talking to someone new, or doing something for the first time, but it was times like this when it became clear that Elliot was still quite unsure of himself. As Tom remembered how Elliot used to be he realised that making him answer the door to the sounds of someone aggressively knocking at midnight probably wasn't the best idea. But Elliot seemed to be quite composed and Tom new that the best thing for both would be to just hurry up and open the box. Which is why, in a sudden desire to cause mischief, he quickly summed up the evening before making sure both he and Elliot were in shot and slyly grinned at the camera.

"Actually, you know what Elliot?" He said, trying to stay straight faced.

"What?" Answered Elliot, suspicious of Toms' random change in tone.

"Maybe we should just go to bed. I mean it is late and you've got to edit that sketch tomorrow, so we'll have to be up in good time. Anyway, it's not like the box is going anywhere."

A drawn-out silence followed as Elliot attempted to figure out if Tom was joking or not.

"Very funny," Elliot huffed. "It’s stupid-o'clock, we're both still in our underwear, that box is fucking creepy, and I'm not going to bed until we open it up. And I know you're just as curious as I am to figure out what on Earth is going on here. So, let’s just open it up so we can both go to sleep already."

There was a moment quiet before Tom burst out laughing. He couldn't help it - something about Elliot's frustrated, annoyed, face was just so funny to him.

"Fine, fine," Tom chuckled. "We'll open it up."

Both men turned to the box on the counter. They each took deep breaths and convinced themselves that they could handle anything that could possibly be in the box. But neither were expecting what they found.


	3. Chapter 3

Tom was still chuckling about teasing Elliot when he grabbed the lid of the box and pulled it off. Before placing it down on the kitchen island he noticed that the lid was unexpectedly weighty; it wasn't heavy enough to be uncomfortable but was certainly heavy enough to be noticeable. He did not have time to dwell on it though as Elliot was already picking something out of the box.

"What's in there?" Questioned Tom.

"Not much," came Elliot's short reply. He was far more interested in reading the letter he had taken out of the box.

Tom pushed Elliot aside and to investigate the box himself. The inside of the box itself was not particularly interesting as it looked just the same as the outside of the box - a black, leather-like material, that had been pulled tight to line the box with no creases. The contents however, were interesting. In the strange box there was a compass, a faded map, and what Tom guessed was a knife wrapped in grey tissue paper. Tom unwrapped the tissue paper and found that his guess was correct, it was a knife. He was about to pick it up and inspect it when Elliot lightly kicked him to get his attention.

"Dude have you been listening to me at all?"

Tom turned to look at Elliot and had to stifle a giggle. He couldn't help it - Elliot was just so adorable when angry with his eyebrows so tightly furrowed and his eyes slightly squinted.

"Honestly no, I didn't even realize you were speaking." Toms reply, though not particularly unexpected, was still frustrating to hear. Elliot was tired and now, after reading the letter he found in the box, he was also a bit scared. Eventually Tom picked up on Elliot's concern and asked him what the letter said.

"It says: Dear Thomas and Elliot, I hope that you are reading this together as I do not believe either of you will be able to handle this task by yourselves. Although I end each day by praying that my past will stay behind me, I am aware that that is but a dream, and that one day I will have to answer the questions I left unanswered-"

"HA! As if they're not just creating more questions! Why does this have to so extra? Just tell us what's happening."

Elliot ignored Tom's interruption and continued to read the letter allowed. "One day I will have to answer the questions I left unanswered and repay the debts I owe. If you are reading this then it means that my past has finally caught up with me. All I ask is that you ask no questions but instead just do what I ask of you. I know that this seems absurd but everything I have done over the last few years and everything I'm doing now is to protect you and my wife. I'm so sorry that this is so sudden but it's for the best. And this is where I give you a choice. You can either stop reading this and accept that I have gone (a decision that I will never hold against either of you and will wholeheartedly respect) or you can risk everything you have, including your health and lives. If you wish to assist me bring the contents of this box with you to the location marked on the map. Yours, Eddie."

There was a silence between the two men that seemed to last a life time. They were both trying to wrap their heads around the new information. Elliot had read that letter twice now, but it didn't make any more sense than the first time he read it. He was Shook. Was Eddie okay? What if he was hurt? What if he is being held hostage somewhere? What if he's afraid? Or trapped, desperately hoping for a solution? Clearly, he needed Tom and Elliot's help but how could they help if they didn't know what’s wrong? After hearing the letter Tom understood why Elliot had looked so worried. He tried to understand how this could be possible. Did Eddie, the Eddie who helps him write dumb comedy sketches, have a dramatic and possibly violent hidden past? No, surely not.

"It's a prank, of course it’s a prank." Tom laughed nervously, trying to get rid of the tense and fearful atmosphere that felt so heavy.

"A prank?" Question Elliot, still extremely shaken.

"Yeah, a prank. C'mon let’s call Eddie, we can get this settled right now." Tom got out his mobile and began to phone Eddie. He was convinced that Eddie would answer his call and then they could all have a good laugh, the fear that both he and Elliot feel would disappear, and they could both go to bed knowing that although it was quite an extreme prank, it was just a prank.

"Yeah, yeah. A prank, just a prank," echoed Elliot. He began to allow himself to feel a bit of hope. It was silly to straight away believe something that was left on the doorstep by someone unwilling to reveal their identity. "A dumb prank." He murmured to himself.

"Oh, he's picked up, here we go," said Tom, interrupting Elliot's chain of thought. "Hi, Eddie?"


	4. Chapter 4

“Oh, he's picked up, here we go," said Tom, interrupting Elliot's chain of thought. "Hi, Eddie?"

Elliot watched as Toms face became worried and confused. He motioned for Tom to put the call on speaker phone, so he could hear as well. Tom obliged but it didn’t help Elliot to understand what was being said. All he could hear were the sobs and cries of a very distressed person.

“Eddy?” Questioned Tom, audibly very unsure.

The person on the other end of the phone took a few deep breaths before speaking, “n-no, this is Alison. Tom, Tom is Eddy with you?”

Tom and Elliot exchanged equally confused looks.

” No,” replied Tom, “I thought he would be with you.” This was clearly not well received as Alison began crying again. The two friends could hear her worrying about how her husband could abandon their baby, and how this better not be some cruel joke.

“Alison listen, please. Take some deep breaths and calm down. You’re not helping anyone right now.” Tom was not particularly sensitive, but he did get the point across effectively. “We need you to tell us exactly what has happened.”

After some shaky breaths and quite a few sniffles Alison calmed down enough to talk. “We? Who else is there?” She questioned, her voice suddenly quite sharp.

Nervously Elliot greeted her and let her know that he was staying with Tom tonight. He then gently asked Allison tell them all she knew - his curiosity overriding his fear about seeming pushy.

“I’ve just got a note. He said that he loved me and Rick and that he’s so sorry, but he must go. He doesn’t explain why though. Oh God I’m so scared. I don’t know if I can raise a child all by myself. I thought he loved me. How could he just abandon me?” The pain in her voice was enough to make the boys feel shaky and upset themselves.

Tom frowned, thinking hard, before reaching a decision and speaking to Allison. “We've been given a similar note, except ours contains a lot less declarations of love,” he joked. “He didn’t say where he went but I might have a few ideas. Stay calm, care for Rick. I know, Elliot knows, everyone knows that Eddy loves you more than anyone else on this planet. And that he’d never abandon his child if he thought he had a choice. I don’t know what’s happened to him, but I promise I’ll do my best to find out. Hang in there, we'll let you know as soon as we know anything.”

Toms serious speech was met with a couple of seconds of silence before Allison replied, in a much more confident voice than before. “You’re right. He would t do this. Something must be wrong. I’m going to take Rick to my parents. Please do everything you can to find my husband. But be careful.”

Tom quickly assured her that they would before saying goodbye and hanging up. The whole situation had been unusual and a bit creepy before but now it had begun to feel serious. This wasn’t a joke. Eddy really had disappeared.

The reality of everything that was happening began to set in for Elliot and Tom. Neither of them knows what to say so they just stood in Toms kitchen, the air so thick you could cut it with a knife.

“Well shit then.” Tom said, breaking the silence.

“No kidding,” muttered Elliot. Elliot sat down a table the table. Rereading the letter. “We have to go and find him.” His tone was hard to decipher. Somehow, he felt both confident and the most unsure he’d ever felt. He was confident they needed to do something but what, he wasn’t too sure.

“I know but where would we start?” Tom began to brainstorm some ideas. “I’d say his parents, but I don’t think they’d appreciate us turning up at this hour. The office maybe? No, security would throw a hissy-fit.”

Elliot let Tom ramble. He didn’t know how to feel about all this. He was scared for Eddy’s safety, worried about the things they may have to do to find him and concerned with how well Alison would cope having to raise Rick all by herself. No. She wouldn’t have to raise him alone. Elliot and Tom would find Eddy, bring him home, and they would all move on. Eddy would have some reasonable explanation and they’d all forgive him for running off. Yes. That is what would happened. Or at least, that’s what Elliot was hoping for.

Elliot brought himself back to the present in time to hear Tom suggest they deal with all this in the morning. “I’m serious this time. It’s quarter to two, neither of us are dressed, and we’re both exhausted. I doubt any of this will have changed in the morning but at least we’ll be able to see it in a new light. We can decide then. What do you think?” Toms words were confident, but his stance gave away his worries.

“Yeah,” sighed Elliot, “you’re right. We should sleep.”

As Elliot stood to go back upstairs Tom picked the camera of the counter and began vlogging.

“Really! What are you even doing? We can’t post any of this!” Elliot exclaimed.

“Maybe not but it’d make a cool documentary in ten years’ time.” Tom grinned at Elliot before becoming more serious. “Any way, I think there’s a chance that something serious is going on here. This will be good evidence should we need it.”

Elliot sighed and nodded. He was too tired to argue, and Tom did have a point - this would make for conclusive evidence.

Tom turned off the camera and put it on charged. Both men then went up to be, for the second time that night, hoping that this time they would not be interrupted. But they were not so lucky. Both were kept awake, tossing and turning, worrying about their friend and what would happen tomorrow. For each of them vivid dreams offered up ideas for how the situation would unfold, none of which would prove to be particularly accurate.


	5. Chapter 5

Both Tom and Elliot had hoped that the morning sun would shine some light on the previous night’s events. That was not to be however. The box hadn’t moved, no new evidence appeared, and neither friend had come up with a plausible explanation for any of it.

Tom ate breakfast with a sleepy Pink on his lap while Elliot fussed over Squidge. Elliot liked being around dogs - there was something so calming about being around a creature that existed without knowledge that of evil, cruelty, and stress exist.

” You’ve got it good Squidge. You don’t work, you don’t cook, you don’t clean. When are you gunna get a real job 'eh?”

Tom ignored Elliot’s playful chatter. He was keen to begin looking for Eddy and put an end to all this nonsense. At the same time though, he did feel an odd sense of excitement. The whole situation was like something out of a movie and Tom and Elliot were playing the leads - it was cool when you think about it like that. But then Tom thought about Eddy, scared, with no idea if they were going to help or not, and he felt bad for almost enjoying it all.

It was quickly agreed upon that they should each take drinks, snacks and money as they had no idea how long they’d be out for and the weather was extremely hot. Elliot pointed out that they'd have to take the dogs with them if they didn’t know how long they’d be as Charlie was still on holiday with her parents. Tom agreed and made sure he had water and treats for both pups. It took them a while to decide if they should bring the box but eventually they decided to leave it and its contents at home where they couldn’t get lost or damaged. After all, today’s plan was to check all the obvious places first, not to go all Boy Scout with the compass and map and head of into the wilderness.

Each holding the lead of a dog and with bags on their backs, Tom and Elliot got into an Uber and headed to the office. The ride there was quiet, punctuated only with light remarks from the driver about how good the dogs were in the car, and how she wished she could have one herself.

Quickly entering the office, it didn’t take long for the boys to conclude that it was empty. Eddy was still missing. Elliot suggested that more clues may have been left there, like a scavenger hunt. Tom agreed. So, they let the dogs chase each other around the office as they turned it upside down looking for answers.

Abruptly, Tom stopped searching to grab his bag and pull out his camera. Elliot watched in silent amazement as Tom summarised the morning, explained the plan for that day, and showed the mess that was the office. Elliot shook his head and got back to hunting for clues.


End file.
